The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard has launched this Wednesday an operation for crimes of corruption and money laundering that includes searches at the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in Madrid and also at the house in Granada of the former its president, Luis Rubiales, for alleged irregularities in contracts.
According to sources in the investigation, elDiario.es is informed that the proceedings are part of an investigation into alleged criminal acts associated with corruption in business, unfair administration and money laundering. Specifically, it affects alleged irregularities in RFEF contracts since 2018, a period with Luis Rubiales at the helm that includes the celebration of the Spanish Football Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Rubiales was going to be arrested but he is out of the country
One of these searches is being carried out at Luis Rubiales’ home in Granada. According to sources from the investigation to elDiario.es, Rubiales was on the list of people under investigation who were going to be arrested, but in the end this was not the case because the former president of the RFEF is not currently in Spain. Although the judge, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Civil Guard knew of this fact in advance, they decided to prioritize the operation even though this arrest could not be carried out.
Rubiales was at the head of the RFEF between 2018 and 2023, a position from which he resigned after the player Jennifer Hermoso filed a complaint for the non-consensual kiss he gave her on the mouth at the celebration of the Women’s Soccer World Cup that Spain won.
According to investigation sources, it is planned to enter and search eleven homes. There are several arrests already made within proceedings in which seven arrests are expected to be made and five other people are being investigated. According to the EFE agency, citing legal sources, the searches are being carried out to collect documentation that the Court has requested on several occasions from the Federation and that it has not delivered.
The police proceedings are being carried out under the direction of the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 4 of Majadahonda (Madrid), in coordination with the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Organized Crime. In addition, it has support from EUROPOL and is carried out in different provinces of Spain.
Source: www.eldiario.es
